this post was submitted on 14 Feb 2025
164 points (99.4% liked)
Europe
2282 readers
1537 users here now
News and information from Europe ๐ช๐บ
(Current banner: La Mancha, Spain. Feel free to post submissions for banner images.)
Rules (2024-08-30)
- This is an English-language community. Comments should be in English. Posts can link to non-English news sources when providing a full-text translation in the post description. Automated translations are fine, as long as they don't overly distort the content.
- No links to misinformation or commercial advertising. When you post outdated/historic articles, add the year of publication to the post title. Infographics must include a source and a year of creation; if possible, also provide a link to the source.
- Be kind to each other, and argue in good faith. Don't post direct insults nor disrespectful and condescending comments. Don't troll nor incite hatred. Don't look for novel argumentation strategies at Wikipedia's List of fallacies.
- No bigotry, sexism, racism, antisemitism, dehumanization of minorities, or glorification of National Socialism.
- Be the signal, not the noise: Strive to post insightful comments. Add "/s" when you're being sarcastic (and don't use it to break rule no. 3).
- If you link to paywalled information, please provide also a link to a freely available archived version. Alternatively, try to find a different source.
- Light-hearted content, memes, and posts about your European everyday belong in !yurop@lemm.ee. (They're cool, you should subscribe there too!)
- Don't evade bans. If we notice ban evasion, that will result in a permanent ban for all the accounts we can associate with you.
- No posts linking to speculative reporting about ongoing events with unclear backgrounds. Please wait at least 12 hours. (E.g., do not post breathless reporting on an ongoing terror attack.)
(This list may get expanded when necessary.)
We will use some leeway to decide whether to remove a comment.
If need be, there are also bans: 3 days for lighter offenses, 14 days for bigger offenses, and permanent bans for people who don't show any willingness to participate productively. If we think the ban reason is obvious, we may not specifically write to you.
If you want to protest a removal or ban, feel free to write privately to the mods: @federalreverse@feddit.org, @poVoq@slrpnk.net, or @anzo@programming.dev.
founded 7 months ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Why the hell would Russia even do that?
What's the actual reasoning behind that? Doesn't this fuck them over too?
The kremlin playbook: test how much they can get away with. Test what's happening when they myrder someone in the EU, cutting cables, ...
Scorched Earth? Hoping that the drone wouldn't be noticed and they could say that Chernobyl is too dangerous to be left to Ukraine? Boredom? Pure psychopathy? To cover up a nuclear strike? Someone meant to order Chipotle and signals got crossed? Roll a d6 and see where it lands.
You missed the obvious one: Sending a message that they are willing to escalate.
The strike hit the "sarcophage" that was built to contain the ruins of the reactor that blew up in 1986.
The message is "we will risk large scale nuclear contamination". Remember how a few months back they used an ICBM w.o. a nuclear warhead for some missile strike, they could have done with a regular missile?
Combine the two messages: "We have the missiles"+"we will risk large scale nuclear contamination" -> "We are serious about the nuke business. Don't get in our way."
nuclear was claimed as a nato red line when this war first started. They are testing nato to see if it is really a redline.
Literally they're trying to conduct nuclear warfare without using a nuke.
That won't work, because it's possible to very precisely determine the origin of radioactive fallout by analysing the types and quantities of different isotopes in it. Also (above ground/water) nuclear weapon detonations do have very distinct optical signatures that can be detected by very simple instruments mounted on satellites, while underground nuclear detonations do have distinct seismic signatures that can be detected and located with the same equipment used to monitor earthquakes. For underwater detonations, I'm sure there are acoustic signatures that will do the same.
We should invent a brain jammer
I had similar questions. How would they benefit from this, and why would they do it a day after the US verbally agreed to most of their demands? Is this a false-flag operation?
That's the weird part.
I wouldn't imagine Ukraine would ever do something so reckless.
But Russia has nothing to gain, peace talks are about to start with heavily favoring Russia
So all I can assume is it could be a third party that doesnt want the peace talk to happen at all, and did this to further destabalize the situation?
I dunno it's just super fucking weird overall. Why chernybol of all things, no one, not even putin, would want that thing to start popping off... right?
That attack for all intents and purposes should be viewed by the world as no different than a failed nuclear launch, really.
And everyone is too pussy to do anything about it.
That's a really interesting point I hadn't considered. It could certainly be some extremist third-party, or even some unknown faction of one of the sides, trying to stir things up. Hmm, the British MI6 gets up to some pretty crazy antics, and they would be fairly far away from the fallout?
I mean, every strike on a non-military target is propaganda for Ukraine, and a wasted munition. They do it anyway, because they figure hurt Ukrainians = victory. And maybe for their own career advancement it is.
Can also not discount complete incompetence.